Pathways and Policies of Blue Economy in Supporting Carbon-Neutrality Target

As the ocean economy takes off in new tangents beyond traditional areas, it is critical that the short-term growth in the ocean economy should not come at the expense of the long-term prosperity of the ocean, including the key roles the ocean plays in regulating our climate and providing critical habitats for a diverse array of marine animals and plants.In December 2022, the parties to the United Nation (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity reached an agreement to set a global target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the world's lands, inland waters, coastal wetlands, and oceans, with emphasis on areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services.In March 2023, the UN agreed on text to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).June 2023 also saw the second round of the formal negotiations for a UN treaty to end plastic pollution-an important steppingstone in the process-which aims to have a treaty ready for adoption in 2024.Recognizing that a healthy ocean environment is a prerequisite for the growing ocean economy, an integrated ocean management (IOM) approach is proposed to strike a balance between environmental, economic, and societal goals, and between short-term economic gains and long-term prosperity based on marine ecosystem services.In the past, IOM has been an overarching concept for the CCICED Special Policy Studies on Ocean governance.This report is a first building block of the Ocean SPS's contribution to CCICED work in phase 7 and this, as well as following work on ocean governance, will continue to take a comprehensive and sustainable approach and will strive to address climate change and work to balance trade-offs between growth of the ocean economy and environmental protection.Existing and potential new economic activities related to oceans, seas, and coasts-the so-called ocean economy-cover a wide range of interlinked established and emerging sectors.The value of the global ocean economy today is an